[2019, May 4th | Saturday, 23:58 PM]
[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts – 2]
[Ghost Story Points: 459]
[Causality Rate: 20%]
Just before midnight.
In the dark clubroom only illuminated by faint moonlight, I started to put my plan into action.
‘Store.’
Pop-
[Apparel / Appearance / Merchandise / Food / Products / Furnishings / Lifespan / Health / Hire / Technology / Home Appliances / Computer / Sports / Leisure / Vehicles / Books / Tickets / Travel / E- coupons / School Facilities]
Endless categories stretched before my eyes.
I went into the ‘Clothing -> Themed Clothing -> Costume’ section and searched for full-body latex.
[Fetish House SM Play Full-body Latex Sexy One Piece – 4 points]
I really thought a lot about what protective gear to wear.
The best choice, of course, was to buy a spacesuit as I was going into space.
However.
[NASA Space Suit – 800,000 points]
Just to be sure, I searched, and surprisingly, they do sell them in the system store, but the price was astronomical.
‘Well… it’s 1 point per 10,000 won. That’s understandable.’
There’s nothing that the Store didn’t sell.
Even items that an individual cannot obtain can still be searched, as long as the product has been distributed anywhere on Earth, even if just once.
I was curious, wondering how far they could go, so I checked through various things. But I was shocked to find that even drugs and firearms were searchable.
‘But just because it’s searchable doesn’t mean you can actually buy it.’
For items that are generally hard to obtain or not available, the price was, of course, not within a normal range.
‘To get a proper spacesuit, I’d have to pay several hundred million won. I can’t do that.’
The next option I considered was an atmospheric diving suit capable of withstanding a 1 atmosphere pressure difference, commonly known as the deep-sea diving suit.
‘But this one is also in the hundreds of millions, so I had to rule it out too.’
What I needed currently was protective gear that could help me endure for about a minute in the clubroom, which would soon turn into a vacuum.
‘I can withstand 30 seconds with my bare body, and even if I lose consciousness or go beyond that, if I’m rescued within 90 seconds at most, my life will not be in danger. But the clubroom’s loading time is about a minute.’
Even if I lose consciousness in the middle, once the loading is done, air will return.
‘There’s no need to invest a lot of money for that short period of time.’
After considering various options, I ended up choosing this.
[Fetish House SM Play Full Body Latex Sexy One Piece – 4 points]
I needed a material that wouldn’t let air escape and could cover my entire body.
After searching with these two conditions, the only thing that came up was a latex suit.
‘This should be okay.’
At first, I looked for scuba diving equipment, but that was water-proof, not air-proof.
‘No matter how much I think about it, this is all I can think of.’
A full-body latex suit.
However, the name of the company that is selling the full-body latex suit was a bit peculiar, as the purpose of their products seemed more focused on adult toys than on providing gear for people like me who are preparing to withstand a vacuum.
‘Fetish House……’
When I searched, I found that it was a 19+ brand that specialized in making this type of sexy costume.
If it had been a well-known clothing company, I would have felt reassured, but since the purpose of the brand was something like that, I couldn’t help but worry that they might have used cheap materials.
‘But I have no other choice.’
I considered many options like diving suits, protective suits, rash guards, and so on, but in the end, latex suited my purpose the best.
‘Purchase.’
[Fetish House SM Play Full Body Latex Sexy One Piece – 4 points]
[Warning! Products purchased with points cannot be returned, exchanged, or refunded.]
[Would you like to complete the purchase?]
‘Click.’
[Purchase has been completed.]
[Current Ghost Story Points: 459 – 4 = 455]
In addition to the latex suit, I also bought thick rubber gloves, earplugs, diving goggles, duct tape, and portable oxygen cans.
Pop-
[Purchase has been completed.]
[Purchase has been completed.]
[Purchase has been completed.]
[Purchase has been completed.]
[Current Ghost Story Points: 442]
Soon after, the sound of something falling down in the hallway was heard.
I quickly opened the door and went out, grabbed the items I had ordered, and brought them inside.
A moment later.
“Huu.”
I covered myself from head to toe in the latex suit, making sure there were no gaps, and sealed every part where air could leak, like the zipper, with duct tape.
After tightly securing the diving goggles around my eyes, I finally inserted the inhaler into the portable oxygen can and sealed the area around my mouth before opening the club’s Status Window with the other.
[Ghost Story Club LV. 5]
[You may spend Ghost Story Points to nurture your club.]
[Ghost Story Points until next level up: 0/200]
[Abilities]
• Space Expansion LV. 2
• Ghost Story Acquisition Skill LV. 1
• Manpower Capacity LV. 1
As expected, just like in regular games, the higher the level, the more points it requires. The club now demanded 200 points instead of the previous 100.
‘Is the gap divided every 5 levels?’
I placed my finger on the level-up button floating in the air in front of me and pressed it firmly.
“Level up.”
Just like before, the points began to decrease as the club’s level-up window before my eyes filled up.
[Points until next level up: 17… 28… 52… 75… 95… 124… 157… 183… 199… 200/200]
Tring!!
Ding~
[The club has leveled up!]
[Ghost Story Club LV. 5 -〉LV. 6]
[Current available ability points: (1)]
“I’ll invest in Space Expansion.”
[Space Expansion LV. 2 -〉LV. 3]
[The clubroom expansion will begin soon. In order for it to begin, please leave the room and close the door.]
I had already left the window half open in advance, and just in case it would close automatically, I even secured it with a whiteboard eraser. Then, I briefly opened the clubroom door from the inside before closing it again.
[The clubroom is reloading. Please wait a moment.]
‘It’s starting.’
The entire room slowly vibrated and shook, as if the whole space had become an elevator.
And it felt like the entire space was ascending somewhere.
Whoooosh-
Soon, I felt a ringing sensation in my ears, as if the space was suddenly moving from a low altitude to a higher one.
Flick- Flick-
Outside the window, lights dazzled in a rainbow of colors, and clouds seemed to rush past.
0%… 8%… 13%… 21%
Then, with a sudden thud and a resonating sound, the light outside the window disappeared in an instant, and it became dark.
Fwoooooooosh—
The air in the clubroom was instantly sucked out with the sound of a vacuum cleaner, and soon, an eerily quiet stillness settled in.
Whooosh-
At the same time, the latex suit I was wearing puffed up with a whoosh, and I could feel air hissing out from various spots where the tape was sealing it.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
I sucked on the oxygen can with one hand while using the other to grope along the wall, pressing the switch to turn on the lights.
The lights flickered on nervously with a faint tremor.
‘Even in this place, there’s electricity.’
This place felt like several spaces were overlapping.
A weak pull of gravity remained even though I was actually in outer space.
‘Whoo- whoo.’
In front of me, the tiles were tumbling like a domino effect, creating waves as they regenerated the room.
Unlike before, perhaps because of the vacuum, it was unbelievably quiet.
‘I gotta hurry.’
I grabbed the bag of money and hurried toward the window.
The window reflected the pitch-black space, and as I got closer, I could feel the gravity gradually weakening.
With movements as if walking underwater, I arrived at the window half-staggering half-walking and fully opened the half-closed window. Then carefully, I placed the bag of money into the air.
Fortunately, it seemed that beyond the window’s boundary, it was completely recognized as outer space, and was unaffected by gravity.
The bag of money swayed and shifted in its place, flopping around as I applied force.
If there were even the slightest movement in another direction, it could be far off by the time I returned to retrieve it in a few weeks.
I tried my best to keep the bag as still as possible in the air.
‘I’m done.’
With the job done, I carefully stepped back.
72%… 84%… 91%…
My ears began to hurt painfully, I could feel pressure in my eyes, and without realizing it, gas started to escape from the holes in the suit, and I could feel several warning signs in my body.
I just had to hold on for 10 seconds and it would be over.
Whoo- Whoo-
I cautiously leaned forward and poked my head out slightly to take a look, and in the distance, I saw the gigantic sparkling nebula.
It was shining in the same location as before, indicating that this was the same coordinates.
In the middle of the dark, endless expanse of universe, a molecular cloud shaped like the Demon King of unimaginable size loomed in the center.
I glared at the gaze of the enormous monster, standing on its head and staring back at me.
‘What are you?’
In this world, there might be countless such cosmic monsters scattered all around the vast universe.
On the dark, distant opposite side of the universe, beyond human exploration, there quietly crouched an ancient, incomprehensible god. It has existed since before humanity was born, since the very beginning of the universe, a being that defies all human understanding.
100%
Paaat- Fwooosh-!
In an instant, the scenery changed, and suddenly a gust of wind blew in, making me raise both my hands.
As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw the dark playground beyond the window.
I immediately ran to the wall and turned off the light first.
Flick-
I turned my head and looked around the clubroom, and saw that the interior had become even more spacious.
If it was originally the size of a living room in a house, now it was like another room had been attached to it.
If I were to measure by area, it would be around 20 pyeong.
[T/N: ‘Pyeong’ is a unit of area commonly used in Korea. One pyeong is equivalent to about 3.3 square meters (or approximately 35.5 square feet). So, 20 pyeong would be around 66 square meters or about 710 square feet.]
Since it couldn’t break through the wall outside of the building, it seemed like the space was expanded horizontally by going through the adjacent classroom. However, if it were a perfect square, it would be about the same size as our current classroom.
If there was a kitchen attached to it, the space would be big enough to set up a table and run a kimbap restaurant.
‘It’s gotten really spacious.’
To think that such a size was given to our small clubroom.
‘If I level it up one more time, it’ll be almost as big as our apartment. How can I make use of this unused space?’
I decided to think about how to use the space later. Quickly taking off the latex suit, I hid it under the sofa, and changed back into my original clothes.
Then I went out the door and locked the clubroom. Just as I expected, the sound of a security guard coming up with a light flashing in front was heard. Perhaps he heard the commotion just now and was rushing up.
I quickly crossed the hallway, descended to the first floor using the central staircase, then climbed the wall I had come through and dashed back home.
‘I did it, I did it!’
Running breathlessly along the dark road, a shout almost left my mouth.
I succeeded in hiding 1 billion won in the clubroom!
The safest place in the world where no one could touch it, no one could eye it!
Only I can freely take out the bag containing 1 billion won whenever I want.
One billion won all to myself.
A high school student who returned in the past after three years.
The regressor has a lot of money now.
Money Defense.
Using an SSSS-class Status Window, the high school student with the ability to turn back time finished a reckless job of hiding 1 billion won.
‘F*ck, huff huff.’
While running home, a cheer came out of me.
‘Wowaaaaaaaaaaaaa~!’
I raised my arms in a cheerful mood and hurriedly ran.
Honestly, I didn’t know it would be this fun.
My heart was pounding, ba-damp, ba-damp, all this money was mine.
‘This is crazy, haha haa.’
Laughter filled with exhilaration escaped my lips, but I was still in my right mind.
I had already decided in my head what I needed to do in the future, so for now, I could let go and rejoice to my heart’s content.
‘What~! Do you have money~!’
I do!
‘Puhahahahaha.’
* * *
I finally calmed down a little after entering the apartment complex.
Now, the next step was to set a price for this bag of money on the system store and upload it. After that, I just needed to check if I could summon it anytime through the Store window.
‘This is my secret weapon.’
The store function of the system where items are immediately sent to the clubroom after purchase.
At first, I thought it was simply for purchasing physical items.
But after changing my perspective a little and focusing on the fact that anything can be instantly delivered, the potential for various ways to utilize it became clear.
The final image I had in mind was a situation where I could search for the money in the bag at the Store and purchase it anytime, then a wad of money would fall out exactly like the items bought before, without needing to withdraw it from a bank.
‘Of course, at least 1 point may be consumed in the process, but I can think of it as a transaction fee.’
After summarizing what I’ve learned so far from using the Store window, I was confident that it would definitely work.
And even if this plan didn’t work out, the process of getting the money out might be a little more cumbersome, but I wouldn’t lose anything, so I was at ease in every way.
I was itching to go back to school tomorrow as soon as the sun rose and try it out.
‘I barely managed to escape today, so it’d be safer to just go back to school after the holiday ends and do it at that time.’
I’ll rest well on Monday, go to school on Tuesday, and just stop by the clubroom and check it out. Once I confirm everything, the money issue will be settled.
‘At the same time, all the financial shackles of our Ghost Story Club will be over with this.’
Now all that was left was to spend money freely and solve cases.
KakaoTalk~
[Ahn Gyeongwon: President! You’re not dead, are you?]
I almost forgot to tell Gyeongwon the results again.
I smiled and sent a reply.
[Lee Joon: Club activity fund 1,000,000,000 won has been deposited.]
* * *
[2019, May 5th | Sunday, 11:43 AM]
[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts – 2]
[Ghost Story Points: 242]
[Causality Rate: 20%]
‘Tickle tickle~ Tickle tickle tickle~’
“Hee… Hee hee… St, stop… Hee hee……?”
When I woke up from a delirious dream where the attendant was tickling my whole body, who was in a full-body latex suit, the sun had already risen high in the sky.
“Huuaam~”
I stretched my body and walked out to the living room, where my dad, in his running clothes, was lying on the sofa. Seeing me walking out, he glanced over at me.
“You are awake?”
“Good morning.”
“It’s Children’s Day today, Joony has all grown up, so you don’t need a present or anything, right?”
My dad said jokingly, as if he was intending to relax at home. My mom, on the other hand, came out of their room fully dressed and ready to go out.
“What are you talking about! Today is Children’s Day, we should at least go out and eat! Get up!”
“Aww, really……”
A little while later, as we were leaving the Korean buffet at Clover Department Store, similar to the last time slot, my cell phone suddenly vibrated.
It was a text message from the Detective.
[Park Gangwon: Lee Joon, come to the Starbucks in front of your home.]
[T/N: Changing the Detective’s surname from ‘Bak’ to ‘Park’ as it sounds more accurate.]
